Different Kinds of Honey
Honey may be water-white in colour, or it may grade through from yellow to brown and nearly to black; it may be decidedly
red, and again, it may have a greenish tinge – none of these indicating by any means the addition of artificial colouring,
but being entirely due to the source of the bee’s food. Honey may be as mild or as strong in flavour as one can desire,
and may possess all the fragrant aroma imaginable, and again, have an objectionable aroma. Yet in each case it is absolutely
pure.
Honey, in the liquid form, is a dense semi-fluid, and may remain so almost indefinitely. It may be partly crystallised
(candied or granulated); it may be of a buttery smooth consistence; it may be grainy, or it may be hard and solid. In any
of these states it is absolutely pure. The assumption that sugary honey is adulterated has no foundation in fact. If desired,
candied or crystallised honey may be brought back to the liquid state by immersing the jar in water no more than 45° Celsius,
otherwise the enzymes will be destroyed, and stirring occasionally until dissolved.
Composition of Honey
Honey contains 75% invert sugar – that is, sugar which can be assimilated by the body
without change, and therefore without taxing the digestive organs. This invert sugar comprises two different sugars: one;
laevulose, which remains liquid for a long period; the other; dextrose, which crystallises. It is the predominance
of one or the other of these two sugars which determines the condition of honey – liquid, partly candied or solid.
In addition, there are various enzymes and a number of minor inorganic elements
in honey, which give it a value high above cane sugar. The human body requires for its development and well-being certain
inorganic elements: phosphorous, iron, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, sodium, potassium, sulphur, manganese and silicon. With
the exception of silicon, all these elements are found in the ashes of honeys of various origins. Sugar, although an energy-producing
food, has no trace of inorganic matter. It consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only. Considering the excellent qualities
of honey, and its very moderate price, it should be used far more extensively.
Enzymes are combinations of protein, vitamins and minerals with a ’vitality factor’ to power
them. No chemical reactions happen in our body without enzymes. Without them, we would be nothing more than a pile of lifeless
chemical substances – vitamins, minerals, water and proteins. There is no life without enzymes. Yet only a living organism
can manufacture them.
As we age the ‘vitality factor’ begins to run out. This together with inherited genetic weakness means we
eventually cannot make sufficient enzymes to stay healthy. As a result, we become susceptible to disease.
